Tata Steel

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel

Tata Steel 2015

Round Eight
January 18, 2015

Tata Steel Masters
Round 8, Jan. 18, 2015
Ivanchuk, Vassily – So, Wesley
C88, Ruy Lopez, Closed (8.h3)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.h3 Bb7 9.d3 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nbd2 Qd7 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.Rxe5 Nf4 14.Nf3 Nxg2 15.Kxg2 a5 16.Rxe7 Qxe7 17.c3 Ra6 18.d4 Rf6 19.d5 a4 20.Bc2 Rd8 21.Qe1 Qd7 22.Ng5 h6 23.Ne4 Rg6+ 24.Kh2 f5 25.Ng3 Qxd5 26.Qg1 Qf3 0-1

So was expecting the Marshall but usually you cannot prepare for Vassily. Qd7 was a novelty by Aronian against Anand in the Candidates 2014. Nf4 equalizes. Anish Giri referred to this sacrifice in NIC. Everyone seems to have seen the analysis but Ivanchuk and Seirawan. Wesley wasn’t expecting to win. The win vaults him to No. 7 in the live ratings.

Nigel Short (tweet) – Poor Chucky. There is nothing worse than losing a theoretical game. But honestly this improvement has been well publicized.

It was painful to see Ivanchuk’s anguish during the ending of this game.

Tata Steel Masters
Round 8, Jan. 18, 2015
Vachier Lagrave, Maxime – Giri, Anish
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Nbd2 Nd4 6.Nxd4 Bxd4 7.c3 Bb6 8.Nc4 O-O 9.O-O d5 10.exd5 Qxd5 11.Nxb6 axb6 12.Bc4 Qd6 13.Bg5 Bg4 14.Qd2 Nd7 15.d4 exd4 16.cxd4 Nf6 17.Bf4 Qd7 18.Be5 Be6 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.d5 c6 21.Qh6 cxd5 22.Rad1 Qe7 23.Bd3 f5 24.Rfe1 Ra4 25.Bxf5 Rh4 26.Qe3 Re8 27.Bxe6 fxe6 28.Rxd5 exd5 29.Qxe7 Rxe7 30.Rxe7 Rc4 31.g3 Rc2 32.b3 d4 33.Rd7 1-0

Tata Steel Masters
Round 8, Jan. 18, 2015
Jobava, Baadur – Carlsen, Magnus
A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack

1.b3 g6 2.Bb2 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.d4 c5 5.e3 cxd4 6.exd4 d5 7.Qd2 Nc6 8.f3 h5 9.Bb5 Qd6 10.Nge2 Bh6 11.Qd1 Bf5 12.Bc1 Bxc1 13.Rxc1 Rc8 14.Qd2 O-O 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Na4 Rfe8 17.O-O e5 18.c3 h4 19.dxe5 Rxe5 20.b4 Rce8 21.Nd4 h3 22.g3 Bc8 23.Nc5 Nd7 24.Nd3 R5e7 25.Rfe1 c5 26.bxc5 Nxc5 27.Nf4 Rxe1+ 28.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 29.Qxe1 Ne6 30.Nfxe6 Bxe6 31.Kf2 Bd7 32.Qb1 Qc7 33.Qb3 Bc8 34.a3 a5 35.Qb2 Ba6 36.Nc2 Qa7+ 37.Ne3 Bc4 38.f4 Kh7 39.g4 Qe7 40.Qc1 Qe4 41.f5 Qf4+ 42.Kg1 gxf5 43.gxf5 Bd3 44.Qe1 Bxf5 45.Nxf5 Qxf5 46.Qg3 Kh6 47.Qb8 Qf3 48.Qh8+ Kg6 49.Qg8+ Kf6 50.Qd8+ Ke5 0-1

Carlsen’s fifth win in a row.

Carlsen at the postgame interview looked very confident. He was expecting something normal from Jobava but the opening wasn’t. Carlsen found it very hard to make any progress out of the opening. After his initial errors Jobava is now playing very well. Carlsen kept equalizing. He thought it was a draw but he did have that pawn on h3.

But Baadur couldn't resist pushing his kingside pawns and got into difficulties (again!) but this time there was no way out and Carlsen now is a sole leader of the tournament.

Hou Yifan and Levon Aronian draw, Radjabov beats Wojtaszec.

The last game just finished:

Tata Steel Masters
Round 8, Jan. 18, 2015
Van Wely, Loek – Caruana, Fabiano
A48 King’s Indian, East Indian Defence

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nbd2 c5 4. dxc5 Qa5 5. a3 Qxc5 6. b4 Qc7 7. Bb2 Bg7 8. c4 d6 9. g3 b6 10. Bg2 Bb7 11. O-O O-O 12. e4 Nbd7 13. Qe2 Rac8 14. Rac1 Qb8 15. Ne1 e6 16. Nd3 Rfd8 17. Rfd1 Qa8 18. f3 Bc6 19. Nf1 Qb8 20. Ne3 Bb7 21. Rc2 Ba6 22. Qe1 Bh6 23. Nf2 Bg7 24. Nd3 Re8 25. Qd2 Bh6 26. Nf2 Bxc4 27. f4 Bb3 28. Rxc8 Rxc8 29. Rb1 e5 30. Nfg4 Bg7 31. fxe5 dxe5 32. Bh3 Rd8 33. Qc3 Ba2 34. Rd1 Nxe4 35. Qc6 Ng5 36. Bg2 Be6 37. h4 h5 38. hxg5 hxg4 39. Nd5 Nf8 40. Rd2 Rd7 41. Nf6+ Bxf6 42. Rxd7 Nxd7 43. gxf6 Nxf6 44. Qb5 Nd7 45. Bc6 e4 46. Kg2 Qd6 47. Bxd7 Qd2+ 48. Kh1 Qd1+ 49. Kh2 Qc2+ 50. Kg1 Qb1+ 51. Qf1 Qxb2 52. Bxe6 Qd4+ 53. Kh2 fxe6 54. Qf4 Qb2+ 55. Kg1 Qb1+ 56. Kh2 Qc2+ 57. Kg1 Qd1+ 58. Kh2 Qe2+ 59. Kg1 Qf3 60. Qb8+ Kf7 61. Qxa7+ Kf6 62. Qxb6 Qxg3+ 63. Kh1 Qh3+ 64. Kg1 g3 65. Qd4+ Kf5 66. Qd2 Qh8 67. a4 Qa1+ 68. Kg2 Qxa4 69. Kxg3 Qb3+ 70. Kh4 e3 71. Qd4 Qc2 72. Qg4+ Ke5 73. Qg3+ Kd4 74. Qd6+ Kc3 75. Qc5+ Kd2 76. Qd4+ Qd3 77. Qb2+ Ke1 78. b5 e2 79. Qc1+ Kf2 80. Qf4+ Qf3 81. Qd4+ Kg2 0-1

Standings

Carlsen 6
So 5.5
MVL 5.5
Ding 5.5
Ivanchuk 5
Radjabov 4.5
Caruana 4.5
Wojtaszek 4
Giri 4
Aronian 3
Hou 2.5
Saric 2.5
Van Wely 2
Jobava 1.5

Quite a tournament so far. Today we saw Ivanchuk’s sadness and the radiant joy of Carlsen and So, the enigma of Jobava and the rise of MVL and the descent of Aronian (and my purple prose!). It is a rest day tomorrow.

Standings Challengers

Navara 6.5
Wei 6.5
Shankland 5
Van Kampen 5
L’Ami 4.5
Potkin 4.5
Sevian 4
Salem 4
Michiels 3.5
Klein 3
Haast 3
Gunina 2.5
Timman 2.5
Dale 1.5
______

GM Gustafsson analyzes Ivanchuk-So on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oaCNTk2YDk

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tata Steel

Would you believe Carlsen is now 1 to 9 to win Tata Steel! With 5 rounds to play, and a scant 1/2 point lead, surely that must be considered excessive. All the more so, since he still has to play 2 of the 3 players just a 1/2 point behind him, MVL and Ding Liren. I'm a bit intrigued that So is at 11/2 while the other 2 joint 2nds are at 7 to 1 (MVL) and 9 to 1 (Ding Liren). Carlsen is plus 2, minus 1, equal 4 against MVL and has never faced Ding Liren.

https://www.marathonbet.com/en/betting/Chess/

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tata Steel

[QUOTE=Wayne Komer;91226]Tata Steel 2015

Standings Challengers

Navara 6.5
Wei 6.5
Shankland 5
Van Kampen 5
L’Ami 4.5
Potkin 4.5
Sevian 4
Salem 4
Michiels 3.5
Klein 3
Haast 3
Gunina 2.5
Timman 2.5
Dale 1.5
______

Wei Yi's plus 5 has his live rating up to 2688.3 and he's only 11.7 points away from removing Carlsen from the record books. Carlsen is currently the youngest player ever to achieve 2700 status when he did so in July 2007 at the age of 16 years, 7 months, and 1 day, smashing Vladimir Kramnik's record of 18 years and 6 days. Given Wei Yi doesn't turn 16 until June 2nd, he's almost a sure bet to surpass Carlsen's record.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel

Tata Steel 2015

Heaven knows that I am sympathetic with Ivanchuk’s feelings in this tournament but I had to laugh at the photo that heads this article:

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/tat...ive-for-magnus

Vassily has run into Wesley So’s opening preparation and is agonizing over his position while the young wolves, So, Giri and Carlsen, look on with detachment.

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: Tata Steel

Tata Steel 2015

Heaven knows that I am sympathetic with Ivanchuk’s feelings in this tournament but I had to laugh at the photo that heads this article:

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/tat...ive-for-magnus

Vassily has run into Wesley So’s opening preparation and is agonizing over his position while the young wolves, So, Giri and Carlsen, look on with detachment.

Good one!

Old man Chucky doesn't have a connection to the interwebs back home. He's stuck reading 2 months old magazines and such.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel

Tata Steel 2015

Round Nine
January 20, 2015

The English commentators today are Hans Bohm and Yochanan Afek. The latter is an IM and also a Master of Chess Compositions. The former is an inseparable friend of Jan Timman and they did a bohemian chess road trip together through Europe about 1970 – 1975.

Tata Steel Masters
Round 9, Jan. 20, 2015
Carlsen, Magnus – Radjabov, Teimour
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. Bxc6 bxc6 8. h3 h6 9. Re1 Re8 10. Nf1 a5 11. Ng3 Rb8 12. b3 Bb4 13. Bd2 Ra8 14. c3 Bc5 15. d4 Bb6 16. dxe5 dxe5 17. c4 Nh7 18. Qe2 Nf8 19. Be3 c5 20. Rad1 Qf6 21. Nh5 Qe7 22. Nh2 Kh7 23. Qf3 f6 24. Ng4 Bxg4 25. Qxg4 Red8 26. Qf5+ Kh8 27. f4 Rxd1 28. Rxd1 exf4 29. Bxf4 Qe6 30. Rd3 Re8 31. Nxg7 Kxg7 32. Qh5 Nh7 33. Bxh6+ Kh8 34. Qg6 Qg8 35. Bg7+ Qxg7 36. Qxe8+ Qf8 37. Qe6 Qh6 38. e5 Qc1+ 39. Kh2 Qf4+ 40. Rg3 1-0

Nigel Short (tweet) - The Norwegian kid can play, it seems :)

The commentators say that this is the sixth win in a row for Magnus. Then a tweet tells them that Wesley So has played 53 games without being beaten and Wesley comes in to talk to the guys. He felt he blundered with his 28. Re7. Still he is happy to have drawn.

Tata Steel Masters
Round 9, Jan. 20, 2015
So, Wesley – Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
D86 Grunfeld, Exchange, Classical Variation

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O b6 11. dxc5 Qc7 12. Nd4 Ne5 13. Nb5 Qb8 14. Be2 bxc5 15. f4 Ng4 16. Bxc5 a6 17. Na3 Qc7 18. Bd4 e5 19. fxe5 Nxe5 20. Qc1 Bg4 21. Bxg4 Nxg4 22. Qf4 Qxf4 23. Rxf4 Ne5 24. Rb1 Rac8 25. h3 Rfd8 26. Rff1 Nd3 27. Rb7 Nc5 28. Re7 Bf8 29. Bxc5 Rxc5 30. Rexf7 Rxc3 31. Nb1 Rc2 32. Kh1 Bg7 33. Na3 Rxa2 34. Nc4 Rf8 35. Rxf8+ Bxf8 36. e5 Bc5 37. g4 Rc2 38. Nd6 Re2 39. Ra1 Rxe5 40. Nb7 Be7 41. Rxa6 Kg7 42. Nd6 Bxd6 43. Rxd6 ½-½

So and the guys discuss the Caruana-Ho game where Fabiano is not doing well. Both players get short of time and finally emerge at the time control with equality and the game ends in a perpetual.

Later, Alejandro Ramirez, writing in ChessBase, finds a win for Hou Yifan with 38…Rd3 or 42…f5.

Tata Steel Masters
Round 9, Jan. 20, 2015
Caruana, Fabiano – Hou, Yifan
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Adams Attack

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 h5 8. g3 Be7 9. Bg2 b5 10. Nd5 Nbd7 11. Nxe7 Qxe7 12. Bg5 Bb7 13. Nc3 Qe6 14. a3 O-O 15. O-O Rfc8 16. Re1 Rab8 17. Re2 Nb6 18. Qe1 Nc4 19. Bc1 Nb6 20. b3 Nbd7 21. h4 d5 22. exd5 Nxd5 23. Ne4 N5f6 24. Nxf6+ Qxf6 25. Bg5 Qf5 26. Bxb7 Rxb7 27. Qa5 Rbc7 28. Qxa6 Rxc2 29. Be3 Nf6 30. Qxb5 Ng4 31. Rf1 Rxe2 32. Qxe2 Rc2 33. Qd1 Rb2 34. Bc5 e4 35. Bd4 Ra2 36. a4 Kh7 37. b4 Ra3 38. a5 Rf3 39. Qb1 Rd3 40. Qb2 Qd5 41. Bc5 Ne5 42. Be3 Nf3+ 43. Kg2 f5 44. Rc1 f4 45. Rc7 Nxh4+ 46. gxh4 f3+ 47. Kg3 Qd6+ 48. Bf4 Qg6+ 49. Bg5 Qd6+ ½-½

Earlier, Wojtaszek and Ivanchuk have played to a draw.

Tata Steel Masters
Round 9, Jan. 20, 2015
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw – Ivanchuk, Vassily
E11 Bogo-Indian Defence, Grunfeld Variation

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 a5 5. a3 Be7 6. e4 d5 7. e5 Nfd7 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Nb1 Nb6 10. Nc3 Nc6 11. h3 Bf5 12. Bd3 Bxd3 13. Qxd3 a4 14. O-O O-O 15. Re1 Qd7 16. Bg5 Nd8 17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18. Nh2 Ne6 19. Ng4 Qg5 20. Re3 Qg6 21. Qd1 Kh8 22. Rg3 Qh5 23. Qd3 Qg6 24. Qd1 Qh5 25. Qd3 c6 26. Ne3 f5 27. exf6 gxf6 28. Nf5 Nc4 29. Qc2 b5 30. Rg4 Rae8 31. Ne2 Qf7 32. Neg3 Qd7 33. Re1 Nc7 34. Rxe8 Nxe8 35. Qc1 Rg8 36. Rh4 Rg5 ½-½

From time to time among the chessbomb crew, a character arises who has the superpowers of Chuck Norris and the chess playing abilities of Ivanchuk. It is said today that IvanchukNorris could win from the final position! The crew hopes that Vassily will be at his best tomorrow and make the Ivanchuk-Carlsen game memorable.

Aronian – Jobava is a miniature:

Tata Steel Masters
Round 9, Jan. 20, 2015
Aronian, Levon – Jobava, Baadur
A56 Benoni Defence

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. e4 O-O 6. Bd3 e6 7. h3 exd5 8. exd5 a6 9. a4 a5 10. Nge2 Na6 11. Bg5 Nb4 12. Bb1 b6 13. O-O Ba6 14. Nb5 h6 15. Bc1 Bxb5 16. axb5 Ne8 17. Ra3 Nd6 18. Rg3 Nxc4 19. Nf4 Ne5 20. Nh5 Qh4 21. Nxg7 Kxg7 22. Re1 d6 23. Re4 Qd8 24. Qh5 1-0

After, Bohm discusses the game with Aronian while mentioning his game with a Benoni versus Tal. I think it might be Bohm-Tal, Moscow 1975, which has the caption, “How to defuse an H-Bohm”.

Jobava snapped up the pawn on c4 and was lost. The computer gives the edge to Black though. I suppose it likes the fact that Black has that pawn.

They also talk about endgame studies and the solving tournament in the last week of Tata.

Tata Steel Masters
Round 9, Jan. 20, 2015
Giri, Anish – Ding, Liren
E92 King’s Indian, Petrosian System, Stein Variation

1. c4 g6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 a5 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 Na6 10. Nd2 Bd7 11. O-O Qe8 12. b3 Nh7 13. f3 h5 14. a3 Bh6 15. Rb1 Nc5 16. Qc2 f5 17. b4 axb4 18. axb4 Na4 19. Nd1 g5 20. Bf2 g4 21. fxg4 Bxd2 22. Qxd2 f4 23. gxh5 Ng5 24. Bh4 Nxe4 25. Qc2 Bf5 26. g4 Ng3 27. gxf5 Nxf1 28. Kxf1 e4 29. f6 Kh8 30. Nf2 f3 31. Bd1 Qxh5 32. Qxe4 Nc3 33. Qd4 Rf7 34. Qxc3 Qxh4 35. Bxf3 Ra2 36. Rb2 Rxb2 37. Qxb2 Qxf6 38. Qxf6+ Rxf6 39. Kg2 Rf8 40. b5 Kg7 41. Ne4 b6 42. h4 Ra8 43. h5 Ra2+ 44. Kf1 Kh6 45. Be2 Ra8 46. Kf2 Rf8+ 47. Ke3 Rf7 48. Bf3 Rf8 49. Kf2 Ra8 50. Be2 Ra3 51. Nf6 Ra8 52. Ke3 Rf8 53. Ne4 Ra8 54. Kf4 Rf8+ 55. Kg3 Ra8 56. Nf2 Ra2 57. Bd1 Rb2 58. Ne4 Rb1 59. Be2 Rb2 60. Kf2 Ra2 61. Ke3 Ra8 62. Bg4 Ra4 63. Kf4 Rxc4 64. Bd7 Kxh5 65. Kf5 Kh6 66. Bc6 Kg7 67. Ng5 Rh4 68. Ke6 Kg6 69. Nf3 Rf4 70. Nd2 Kg5 71. Ke7 Rf5 72. Ne4+ Kf4 73. Nf6 Ke5 74. Nd7+ Kd4 75. Kd8 1-0

Saric – Van Wely goes on and on. Eventually Loek reached a winning rook endgame... that he blundered away on move 90.

In the Challengers Navara beats Salem and stays half a point ahead of Wei Yi.

Standings after Round Nine

Carlsen 7
So 6
Vachier-Lagrave 6
Ding Liren 5.5
Ivanchuk 5.5
Caruana 5
Giri 5
Radjabov 4.5
Wojtaszek 4.5
Aronian 4
Hou Yifan 3
Saric 3
Van Wely 2.5
Jobava 1.5

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tata Steel

I've become a huge fan of Ding Liren at Tata Steel with his uncompromising/exciting style, resulting in 5 wins, 3 losses, and a single draw. He has White against Wesley So tomorrow so there's a fair chance Ding gets his 2nd draw. Wesley is on a streak of 53 games without a loss so it's hard to imagine Ding ending that streak. They've drawn their last 4 encounters with the only decisive result taking place way back in 2004 at the WYCC U12 when Ding secured the full point. Interestingly enough, Caruana was also at that event so it was truly a banner year for future elite GMs.

http://chess-results.com/tnr1631.asp...det=YES&wi=984

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tata Steel

Aronian may be setting a quick play record today. He's banged out his first 31 moves in negative 12 minutes and 29 seconds (:

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tata Steel

Aronian made it to the 40 move time control in negative time. I'm quite sure I've never seen that before at this elite level.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tata Steel

I've become a huge fan of Ding Liren at Tata Steel with his uncompromising/exciting style, resulting in 5 wins, 3 losses, and a single draw. He has White against Wesley So tomorrow so there's a fair chance Ding gets his 2nd draw. Wesley is on a streak of 53 games without a loss so it's hard to imagine Ding ending that streak. They've drawn their last 4 encounters with the only decisive result taking place way back in 2004 at the WYCC U12 when Ding secured the full point. Interestingly enough, Caruana was also at that event so it was truly a banner year for future elite GMs.

http://chess-results.com/tnr1631.asp...det=YES&wi=984

Ding does indeed get his 2nd draw, but certainly an atypical one, and So runs his undefeated streak to 54 games.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tata Steel

A 56-move bare Kings draw and Aronian used 24 seconds on his clock (:

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Tata Steel

A 56-move bare Kings draw and Aronian used 24 seconds on his clock (:

That probably explains why he'll probably never make it to the big match.

[John Coleman]

Re: Tata Steel

Some of our local kids regard it as a matter of honour to move within the increment, ending up with more time than they started with.

The trouble is, they can beat me. Thinking is for old men, and wimps.

[Kerry Liles]

Re: Tata Steel

Some of our local kids regard it as a matter of honour to move within the increment, ending up with more time than they started with.

The trouble is, they can beat me. Thinking is for old men, and wimps.

lol

And I thought I had things easy when I saw the book titled: "Move first; think later"
because I have been employing that strategy for years.

Sometimes I notice the "think" part is more or less missing altogether.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel

Tata Steel 2015

Round Ten
January 21, 2105

From The Hague

Commentators today are Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam and GM John van der Wiel

Dirk Jan is the editor of New in Chess magazine. They are in the Press Centre of Parliament. The players were taken to a museum around the corner before the round started. It is the Mauritshuis and its most famous inhabitant is the painting The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Vermeer. There is a group photo taken in front of the great Dutch naturalistic painting The Bull by Paulus Potter, 1647.

Chess and art enthusiasts probably know some of the other famous paintings there – Old Woman and Boy with Candle (Rubens), The Anatomy Lesson and Self Portrait (Rembrandt) and Adam and Eve in Paradise (Brueghel/Rubens).

Carlsen might do a Caruana today – seven wins in a row. He would do so by beating Ivanchuk. Their record is put up on the screen:

Ivanchuk – Carlsen 26 games
Ivanchuk won 3 and Carlsen 8 with 15 draws
Most recent: London 2013, Carlsen-Ivanchuk 0-1

The guys talk about the opening in Ivanchuk – Carlsen, So’s opening surprise the other day against Ivanchuk, Adams, the g4 pawn and are deep into the analysis of Ding Liren – Wesley So, when the audience in the background focuses on the game of the day where there is a draw!

Ivanchuk is forcing a draw, 12..Nc6 13. Nxc6 Bxc3! now and there is not much left to play for.

They are joined by Magnus Carlsen very soon thereafter who says, “Ivanchuk chickened out, he forced the draw. There is nothing I can do. He is an inscrutable fellow. I am a chess player and this is not chess. This is nonsense.” Everyone laughs. It is evident that Carlsen is in a good humor.

He says that if you want to force a fight, you have to play a flank opening and look what happened to him in the first few rounds with that. Carlsen is not concerned about the streak. He closes his game on the computer screen because “it sucks” and then goes on with Ding-So. He also praises Botvinnik’s opening analysis, which was very creative. He is interested in Vachier Lagrave-Wojtaszek.

He says that at the painting photo this morning, he asked, “How many cows are there in the painting?” and they could not give him an answer.

He really is more animated than I have ever seen him before. Perhaps it is because he has got the winning streak monkey off his back.

Tata Steel Masters
Round 10, Jan. 21, 2015
Ivanchuk, Vassily – Carlsen, Magnus
D38 QGD, Ragozin, Marshall Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 O-O 8.Rc1 dxc4 9.Bxc4 c5 10.O-O cxd4 11.Nxd4 Bd7 12.Qb3 Nc6 13.Nxc6 Bxc3 14.Rxc3 Bxc6 15.Bb5 Bd5 16.Bc4 Bc6 17.Bb5 Bd5 18.Bc4 1/2-1/2

The second game to finish is not much longer

Tata Steel Masters
Round 10, Jan. 21, 2015
Ding, Liren – So, Wesley
D31 QGD, Charousek Exchange

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 c6 6.e3 Bf5 7.g4 Be6 8.h4 Bxh4 9.Qb3 g5 10.Be5 f6 11.Bh2 Bxg4 12.Qxb7 Qe7 13.Qxa8 Qxe3+ 14.Be2 Bxf2+ 15.Kf1 Bh4 16.Qxb8+ Kf7 17.Nd1 Bxe2+ 18.Nxe2 Qf3+ 19.Kg1 Qxe2 20.Bg3 Qg4 21.Kg2 Qe4+ 22.Kg1 Qg4 23.Kg2 Qe4+ 24.Kg1 Qg4 1/2-1/2

Wesley prepared the opening at home and said it was a forced draw. In fact it is almost impossible for White to avoid the perpetual.
Magnus earlier was willing to bet that this game would be a forced draw.

Tomorrow is a free day.

Van der Wiele and Jan ten Geuzendam are together again and talk about the Chinese at Tata, and how difficult it is sometimes to get the home cooking that is important to them. Wei Yi won again today against L’Ami.

Van Wely wins:

Tata Steel Masters
Round 10, Jan. 21, 2015
Van Wely, Loek – Hou Yifan
B31 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.O-O Bg7 6.Re1 Nf6 7.e5 Nd5 8.c4 Nc7 9.d4 cxd4 10.Qxd4 O-O 11.Qh4 f6 12.Nc3 Ne6 13.Ne4 fxe5 14.Nfg5 Nxg5 15.Bxg5 Qb6 16.c5 Qxb2 17.Rad1 d5 18.cxd6 exd6 19.Rxd6 Bf5 20.Nf6+ Bxf6 21.Bxf6 Rab8 22.Qc4+ Rf7 23.Red1 Qb1 24.h3 1-0

Loek couldn’t believe that he was finally going to win a game. He got up and walked around the hall to steady himself.
If you win early today, you can get the first bus back to your hotel. Magnus didn’t have to wait for the bus, he went back in a Jaguar.
This game was decided in the opening. He is glad to have reached the rest day in one piece. He has Baadur and Anish coming up but they are fun players to play. He said he told Baadur on the bus that their game will end up 0-0 because Baadur will try to give up all his pieces and Loek won’t make a move!

Giri won today and solidified his position as No. 6 on the Live Games Elo List.

Tata Steel Masters
Round 10, Jan. 21, 2015
Saric, Ivan – Giri, Anish
B48 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qf3 Ne5 8.Qg3 h5 9.f4 h4 10.Qh3 Nc4 11.Bxc4 Qxc4 12.O-O-O b5 13.f5 Bb7 14.Rhf1 e5 15.Nb3 Qc7 16.Bg5 Rc8 17.Rf2 Be7 18.Bxe7 Kxe7 19.Rfd2 Nf6 20.a3 Rh6 21.Qe3 Kf8 22.Kb1 Kg8 23.Rg1 Ng4 24.Qf3 Qb6 25.Re1 Nf6 26.g4 hxg3 27.Qxg3 d6 28.Rg2 Rh7 29.Qg5 Kf8 30.Qd2 Rxc3 31.Qxc3 Nxe4 32.Qd3 Nc3+ 33.Qxc3 Bxg2 34.Qc8+ Ke7 35.Qg8 Qf2 36.Rd1 Be4 37.Rd2 Qg1+ 38.Ka2 Bxf5 39.Qb8 Rh6 40.Rd5 Bd7 41.Qb7 Qg4 42.Na5 Kf6 43.b3 Rxh2 44.Rxd6+ Be6 45.Kb2 Qf4 46.Nc6 Rh1 47.Qe7+ Kf5 0-1

So both Dutch players have won today. A tweet on the screen says “They need to visit Mauritshuis more often. I am sure that helped.”

Radjabov-Aronian and MVL-Wojtaszek are both draws.

Carlsen on Radjabov vs. Aronian: "There are days when he's ambitious, but this isn't one of them”

This leaves Jobava-Caruana as the last game going.

Tata Steel Masters
Round 10, Jan. 21, 2015
Jobava, Baadur – Caruana, Fabiano
A45 Queen’s Pawn Game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4 e6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Ne2 O-O 6.a3 Bd6 7.g3 b6 8.Bg2 Bb7 9.O-O c5 10.Re1 Be7 11.h3 Nc6 12.g4 Rc8 13.Qd2 a6 14.dxc5 bxc5 15.Rad1 Qa5 16.Nc1 c4 17.N1e2 Rfd8 18.Nd4 Qb6 19.Qc1 Nd7 20.g5 Bf8 21.h4 g6 22.h5 Bg7 23.hxg6 hxg6 24.Nf3 Nc5 25.Nh2 e5 26.Bg3 Ne7 27.Ng4 e4 28.f4 Nf5 29.Bf2 Rb8 30.Rd2 Qe6 31.Bh3 Qc6 32.Bg2 Qe6 33.Red1 Nh4 34.Bh3 Nf3+ 35.Kg2 Qd6 36.Rxd5 Bxd5 37.Rxd5 Qb6 38.Rxc5 Qxc5 39.Nxe4 Qc6 40.Nef6+ Bxf6 41.Nxf6+ Kg7 42.e4 Nd2 43.Bg4 c3 44.b4 Rd6 45.Qe1 Rbd8 46.Qh1 Rxf6 47.Qh6+ Kg8 48.gxf6 Qxf6 49.Bh4 Qd4 50.Bxd8 Qxe4+ 51.Kg3 Qe1+ 52.Kg2 Qf1+ 53.Kh2 Qf2+ 54.Kh1 Nf1 0-1

Jobava loses the game and drops below 2700 in Elo rating.

The Standings after Round Ten:

Carlsen 7.5
So 6.5
MVL 6.5
Ivanchuk 6
Ding Liren 6
Caruana 6
Giri 6
Wojtaszek 5
Radjabov 5
Aronian 4.5
Van Wely 3.5
Hou Yifan 3
Saric 3
Jobava 1.5

Friday’s matchups:

Giri-Van Wely, So-Saric, Wojtaszek-Ding Liren, Carlsen-MVL, Aronian-Ivanchuk, Caruana-Radjabov, Hou Yifan-Jobava.

Carlsen said before the tournament that he would like to finish with more than 10 out of 13, which he got two years ago. He still has a chance for this if he gets a hat trick. Wesley So is showing his good form. MVL had a rough time at the start of the tournament with the attacks in Paris, which really affected him, but he fought back for his present result. Ivanchuk has a tough schedule (Dirk calls it “the tunnel”, with Caruana and Aronian ahead of him (and Carlsen behind!)

Museum photos at

http://en.chessbase.com/post/tata-st...from-the-hague

Standings Challengers after 10 Rounds

Wei Yi 8
Navara 8
Van Kampen 6.5
Shankland 6
Sevian 5.5
Potkin 5.5
L’Ami 5
Salem 5
Klein 4
Michiels 4
Gunina 3.5
Haast 3.5
Timman 3
Dale 2.5

GM David Navara's winning streak of four games was stopped by GM Vladimir Potkin, who held the draw with a Classical Scheveningen. GM Wei Yi profited and caught Navara thanks to a quick win against GM Erwin l'Ami.